My new all-time favorite thing in Geneva is the Ludotheque, Toy Library.  Why can’t the States have these?   The kids and I hit one today, it’s right by a tram stop so very easy to get to.  Basically it’s an indoor play area with a ton of games, puzzles, bikes, cars, trucks, baby toys, scooters, etc that you can check out for free!  And considering that I’m alone w/these kids for 10 hours a day w/barely anyone speaking English to me, this will save my life these next 6 weeks.

Today we went and on our way in met Stormy, a Dallas, TX girl who married a Suisse and has been here for 10 years.   She has twin boys, Roman and Phoenix.  So I knew we would get along great considering my kids’ names.  She helped me by translating all the information – it was so nice cuz not very many people even WANT to speak English if they know it.  We checked out a huge train track for Rocky, Blokus for Leo, and a crane set for Fischer.  Fischer wanted to bring home a bike, and Leo skates but all I had was the stroller so couldn’t haul all that back on the tram.  I told them we could come back with the car next time and get whatever they wanted.

After the Lidotheque, we hit the playground right outside.  There are tons of playgrounds here and they have the most amazing toys I’ve ever seen.  We went to another one yesterday that had a HUGE basket-pendulum type swing that Rocky and I fit into so I made the kids push me for a while.  It was very relaxing, until I thought I was going to puke.  Anyways, then we found another playground near by with even better toys!  There was a preschool out playing and one of the teachers spoke English.  She told me how kids start school here at age 4, in France it’s age 3.  That’s too early.  She was really nice though but told me if I moved here, I needed to take French lessons.  She also taught me that bathroom is “le toilette” – very important when I have 4 kids and have to ask all over Geneva for bathrooms.

I’m lovin’ it here.

I had a hard time finding peanut butter at first – they have Nutella everywhere which is YUMMY but we need PB.  So I bought this generic brand, the jar is mini and cost 3.50 CHF.  At WalMart this would go for about half that.   The chocolate is a good price and they have half a row of it in the store, and it’s ALL good stuff, hard to choose.

Other costs:

-10 Euros to do two loads of laundry, wash and dry.  1 Eu = $1.25

-100 Eu to fill up the car, but it’s diesel and more fuel efficient so we fill up about every three weeks

-A bag of Ikea meatballs is 18.90 Eu – about half that in the U.S.  I went to Ikea the other day and spent 3 Eu on a toy for Dodge, I couldn’t bring myself to by anything else (except lunch of course) cuz i knew I could get it way cheaper in the U.S.  The awesome thing about the Ikea in Geneva is that the kids can go in the play place for an HOUR and they have H&M in Ikea.

-We got a membership to The Library in English, SO worth it cuz Leo and I are both hurting for books, and not in French.  It did cost 100 CHF, but I’m glad we did it.  They have story time at the Library – it’s in an old church so you walk down to the basement via some winding, rickety stairs – feels like I’m in a Dan Brown novel.

-Diet Coke!!!  Two liter, about $2.50 Eu = $3.25

-Chocolate = priceless

-I survived taking the kids to Carrefour, ie. Euro Walmart.  Except I didn’t get to buy my produce.  I didn’t know that you had to weigh and tag it yourself in the produce section.  So when I got to the checkout, the lady told me all about it in French, which means I didn’t know what she was talking about until she set my produce to the side.

-Our toilet is in it’s own little room – underneath the stairs.  We have a shower upstairs and a shower downstairs, and a toilet in a closet.  Really throws the kids off when they have to use the bathroom at night.

-Some little girl tried speaking in French to Leo today.  Leo just kept nodding her head at her.  Later Leo told me, “In conversations where  you don’t know what they’re saying, it’s best to just nod your head and say yes.”  Smart girl.

-The foreign girls love Rocky!   If he serves his mission here, he’ll probably bring home a wife:

-They DO have a version of Wal-Mart:  Carrefour which in French means “Crossroads” – I’m going tomorrow and taking all four kids.  Once again, playing into an American stereotype.  My hair doesn’t help with that either.  It’s one of those stores where you have to “pay” to get a cart out and, once again, the parking lot is like a race track and the parking spaces are mini.  If we survive, I’ll post pics later.

-I love the cheese already.  Denton’s made cheese fondue, homemade mac and cheese, and chocolate fondue, yum!  The kids aren’t quite use to it, they have no idea how lucky they are.

-We live in France right across the border from Switzerland.  So in my wallet I have Francs, Euros, and American Dollars.  I like our dollar bills – the Francs have some CRAZY pics on them of weird art and salty people, makes me not want to touch them.

-Rocky:  ”Are we in Switz-uh-wand yet?  When are we going to Fwance?”

-Don’t be fooled, I’m so glad to be here, but even more happy that I’m American.

Then we headed onto a bus – there is NO air conditioning in Switzerland and the busses were stuffy, there’s also no deodorant.  We rode the bus to the base of  Mount Saleve, part of the Swiss Alps.  Then we hiked about another half mile (the kids were troopers) and rode a rail car to the top.  I’m scared of heights and about wet my pants while the kids hung on the doors with their noses to the windows.  Had some ice cream at the top and hung out looking over Geneva – it is beautiful!  Lake Geneva is amazing, I wish you could see it.  Rode the rail car down, then took the bus, the tram, the car, then home.  And with jet lag, we all fell asleep by 7pm that night.  Still can’t believe we’re here.

There were many very nice people who helped me along the way to carry our luggage, keep my kids from running into the street, help us thru security, and give me an extra seat on the airplane so I could bring Dodge’s car seat on.

But really, going thru international check-in at the D.C. airport was H-E-double hockey sticks.  That and running thru the airport and not being able to find my gate, pushing a crying 20-lb baby in a 20-lb stroller, and carrying Rocky over my shoulder.  But the stewardess could see the trauma written all over my face and had mercy on me.  After waiting for an hour on the tarmac for bad weather to pass, I didn’t sleep a wink on the flight, but the kids did and that’s all that mattered.  And it was SO nice to see Denton’s face after going thru customs, almost falling down the escalator with the stroller, and threatening Rocky’s life every time he ran away from me.  I have a new-found appreciation for single mothers, I hope I never have that life again.

Geneva, yo

Denton’s company is sending him to Switz-land for two+ months this summer beginning in May.  After I go to Natalie’s wedding Memorial Day weekend, the kids and I are heading out to Geneva to meet up with Dad.   Geneva is the 2nd most expensive city in Europe and dubbed the “Land of Parks.”  Home to all the chocolate and cheese I can eat.  My plan was to lose twenty pounds this summer, not anymore!!!  We’re gonna find ourselves a 2-room apartment (that costs double our mortgage) and the kids and I will bum around Geneva until Dad gets off work.  Then it’s off to the cafe’s and Swiss nights.

You can be jealous…. I would.

It’s been fitty years since I’ve put up pics of the kids – here’s some of them and the low down on what they’ve been doing:

Dodge:  best baby experience I’ve ever had, too bad it took me 4 kids to figure it out.  He sleeps 6-8 hours at night, sleeps while the kids are screaming, and LOVES his brothers and sister and all their sloppy kisses.  I told Denton I have to pull a Michael Jordan and retire from birthing while I’m at the top of my game.   The Cash onesie is courtesy of Aunt Natalie, of course.

Rocky:  funniest kid ever.  Yesterday he told me he was a man.

Fischer:  starts kindergarten in the fall and I can’t BELIEVE it!  Dodge and him are best friends.  Fisch likes to take all of his train tracks and Lincoln Logs and make huge cities in the front room.  But then he has a break down when Rocky comes thru and tears it all apart.  i don’t blame him.

Leo:  before Christmas she had her first piano recital and play at school on the same night.   She is SO OLD and I was thinking about her graduating high school and cried a touch.  Leo wants to be a Rockette when she grows up – i told her i’m ALL about it as long as she has a current temple recommend and gets me free tickets.

Can’t believe it’s 2010 – where the heck did 2009 go???

November 10, 2009, 7:46 pm

9 pounds, 6 ounces, 21 inches

born on I-64 and Glenside in the ambulance!

Usually when I tell my friends my drama, I make it the “no holds barred” version.  Since I’ll be sending this out to those much more refined then me (hi mom!), I’ll try to keep it around PG-13.

**If you want the unedited version, call me in 2-4 weeks!

So here’s the story . . .

I wanted to have a natural birth and in the end I got what I wanted.  And I’ll never have an epidural again, I feel so much better this time and Dodge is much more alert then my other babies.  This time around, my labor and delivery were MUCH different then my other three.  And somewhere out there, are three EMT’s – Bryan, “Blue” and “Bucket” – who think they are total studs, and they are.

I was due on Wednesday, November 11 – light labor started on Monday night and lasted about 24 hours.  My heavy labor lasted five seconds before I felt the urge to push.  In the past, I’ve woken up early in the morning in labor, headed to the hospital, got my epidural and several hours later had my baby!  Not this time.

My friend and doula (and lawyer, so don’t mess) Pam came over Tuesday afternoon and we took a long walk with some contractions going on.  We even took a walk and labored around Whole Foods – they should seriously give me a gift card cuz there’s nothing more “Whole” then having contractions down their homeopathy aisle.

At about 7 pm that night, my contractions weren’t that close together and I was handling them well, while watching the Best Two Years, so I decided to get in the tub.  We didn’t feel like it was time to head for the hospital yet – my contractions were bearable and somewhat spaced out.  Right after I got out of the tub, I had the MOTHER of all contractions and my water barely broke.  Immediately after, I felt the urge to push.

Now, let me tell you a little somethin’ somethin’ – if you’ve never felt that urge to push that comes with a natural labor, you are missing out!  It’s like a freight train running through your insides, in a good kinda way.  Now, try having to hold that freight train in, good luck!  So my water breaks and immediately I have to push.  We jump in the van (well I didn’t jump in, I was trying to keep my legs together) and Pam is telling me to pant like a dog!  I’ve never panted before but OH MY GOSH I was trying.  We get out of the neighborhood and I told them I wasn’t going to make it to the hospital and I was NOT going to have the baby in my mini-van grocery grabber!  We head back home and on the way Denton calls 9-1-1.  Pam and Denton try to get me out of the van but I’ve cemented my legs together to keep the baby from coming out and I’m panting my face off.  We finally get into the house, Pam has towels on the floor and I’m yelling that I have to push!

Can you even IMAGINE what those EMT’s saw when they walked into my house!  HAHAHAHA!  I can laugh about it now cuz at that time I didn’t care that they were cute and seeing all my business while I was screaming that I had to push in between panting.  They checked me out and I thought FOR SURE the baby was well on its way out.  They thought at first that I had a prolapsed cord (umbilical cord presenting before the baby’s head) which would have been a huge problem, but then they figured out it was just mucus (sorry for you queasy ones out there).  I wanted to push SO BAD and just have him in the living room, but the EMT’s wanted to transfer me.  So they got me on the stretcher (I have no idea how) and into the back of the ambulance.  Poor Denton had to sit in the front and Pam followed us in the van.

Now, here’s the best part of the story….

So I’m in the back of the ambulance with three cute guys my age (at that time I didn’t notice or care), my pants are off, I’m panting like a mad dog, and yelling at the them to let me push.  I have two EMT’s in a death-grip on their knees, one is telling me that I have to let go of his knee so he can put an I.V. in.  So I let go and clamp down on his arm, that’s what you get!  Another guy is at the foot of the gurney, standing up and holding onto some handle in the ceiling, all the while losing his balance while we drive down I-64 thru the pouring rain.  I’m panting, trying to keep the baby inside, closing my eyes, and asking the boys to PLEASE let me push!  At this time, it’s kind of an out-of-body experience.  FINALLY after 45 minutes of keeping the freight train from exploding out of me, Dodge Joseph Romans is born in the back of the ambulance at 7:46 pm on I-64 and Glenside.  And that was the greatest feeling of relief I’ve ever had in my whole life.

I’m in a euphoric state of shock but I heard Dodge cry right away so I knew he was OK.  They immediately put Dodge on my chest, pull the ambulance over, and Denton gets to come in the back and cut the cord.  I release my death-grip from the other EMT’s and they all breathe a sigh of relief.  I bet they had beers over this one that night.  We head to the hospital and Labor and Delivery but they won’t let us in because they had had 18 births that night and “no room in the inn!”  They took us down to the ER where we were fixed up right away.  The EMT’s told us their names and said they would be happy if we wanted to use them for the baby.  Thanks, but no thanks cuz you made me wait to push punks.

So in the end, it all worked out.  We got a healthy 9 pound 6 ounce baby, a natural birth, and I didn’t have to labor in the hospital hooked up to monitors and IV’s.  We just went about it a totally different way.  Did you expect anything different?  Cuz if you knew us, you wouldn’t.

The kids think it’s a girl and they want to name it Leo. But then Fischer asked me, “When Rocky grows up, can we name him Fischer?” Sure, now that we have one hundred children, you guys can do whatever you want.

She’ll be here 11/11/09 – at least she’ll have a cool birthday. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to see the little sucker.